Carpet sweeper



jan. 5, 1943. F. W, PULLEN A 302156 CARPET SWEEPER Filed May 16, 1940 ATTORNEYS.

Patented Jan. 5, A1943 CARPET SWEEPER FredvW. Iullen, Grand Rapids,`Mich.f, assigner to Bissell Carpet Sweeper Co., Grand Rapids,

Mich.

Application May 16, 1940, Serial No. 335,565

3 Claims.

This invention relates I-toimprovements in carpet sweepers.

This'ainvention relates to carpet Sweepers and has forA its objects:

First, to provide a new and improved carpet sweeper.

Second, to provide such a carpet sweeper in which stub axles are employed so that it is possible to eliminate through axles which extend through the casing and are in the way of litter swept up by the carpet sweeper.

Third, to provide such a sweeper in which the stub axles are resiliently held so that the wheels on them may bear against the brush hub and may resiliently support the carpet sweeper and in whichr the parallelism between the axles and the brush 'is' maintained;

Other objects and advantages pertaining to details and` economies of construction and operation will appear from the description to follow. The invention is defined in the claims. Preferred embodimentsoi my invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is-an endl view of a carpet sweeper embodyingfmy invention.

Fig.y 2 is a detail view in section on the line 2--2 oi Fig, 1 with some of the parts shown in full lines.

Fig. 3 is a detail partial View .showing the operation of my invention.

Fig. 4is a view showing a modified form of my invention.

The carpet sweeper shown generally at I consists of a casing 2 having top 3, sides 4, ends 5 and Supporting end bars 6.

The carpet sweeper is provided with a suitable handle 'l and with a brush 8 which extends through the casing and is provided with a brush hub 9 adapted to engage the wheels Ill.

The wheels Ill are independently mounted in yokes Il consisting of a bight I2 and arms I3 extending each side of the wheel II! and connected by a wheel axle I4 on which the wheel is mounted by means of a ball bearing I5.

The wheel is resiliently urged against the brush hub and resiliently supports the casing by means of a short leaf spring I6, one end I1 oi which is rigidly connected to the bight I2 of the yoke II and which extends substantially tangentially of the wheel I0 but with its transverse flat dimension parallel with the axle I4. The other end I8 of the spring I6 is rigidly connected to a bracket I9 which is rigidly mounted on the casing and which holds the transverse at dimension of the end .I8 parallel with the brush 9 so that the axle I4 of the wheel is held parallel with the brush 9. rhe spring I6 is a short leaf spring and by rigidly mounting the ends, I reduce the torsional resiliency very materially'so that parallelis'm between the axle I4 and the brush 9 may be maintained, although the spring is subject to transverse bending to permit the operation of the sweeper in the usual way. The spring is made of such strength that when somounted the 1 torsional movement is` reduced to a minimum.

To assist in maintaining parallelism between the axle III and the brush 9 and to equalize the action of the wheels and to give the brush a more extensive downward movementthan the case is 'given when pressure is applied thereto, I provide equalizing levers 2t. These levers are mounted between their ends on pivot pins 2| supported on the bars Ii which form part of the case. One end 220i each lever is pivoted to the yoke by means of a pivot pin 23. The other end 24 4is pivotally connected 'to the brush by means of a slide 25 carrying a pivot pin 26. The slideA 25 is slidably disposed in a slot 2 in the member 28 carried by the supporting bar ii.

The end of the yoke arm I3 is slotted at 29 so that relative movement longitudinally of the lever 26 between the lever 2U and the yoke Il is possible. Similarly, the lever 20 is slotted at 3d where it is connected to the pivot pin 2 I, so that 'there canbe relative movement longitudinally of the lever between the lever and the supporting bar 6. A similar slot 3i at the end 24 of the lever likewise .permits relative movement longitudinally of the lever between the lever and the brush. By providing two slotted connections, I assure contact between the wheels and the brush hub at all times. rIhe levers assist in maintaining parallelism between the axle I4 and the bru'sh 9.

In Fig. 3, I show how the sweeper embodying my invention operates. In full lines I have shown the sweeper in its normal position when not in use. When pressure is applied to the casing tending to move it downwardly, toward the floor to the position shown in dotted lines, the spring I6 flexes to the dotted line position. `The levers 20 also move to the dotted line position, carrying the brush to the dotted line position. The movement of the brush is greater than the. movement of the case, which permits the sweeper to be used on a great variety of floor coverings from linoleum to high nap rugs.

By mounting the spring I6 rigidly at both ends and by providing it with sufcient torsional resistance, I maintain parallelism between the axle I4 and the brush 9. Heretofore such parallelism has been extremely dicult to maintain. Ordinarily stub axle constructions have been impractical to a great extent because of the expensive construction required to maintain parallelism and because of the wear upon the parts of su'ch construction. By my arrangement of the parts and the use of the spring I6 rigidly mounted at both ends, I maintain parallelism without any parts which can be subject to wear.

In Fig. 4, in place of the spring I6, I provide a spring H6 which is a flat leaf spring with a curve |32. The end H8 of the spring is rigidly fastened to a bracket H9 and the end H1 is rigidly fastened to the bight H2 of the yoke HI. The spring is resistant to torsion and the transverse bending permits proper functioning of the parts of the sweeper.

The terms and expressions which have been herein employed are used as terms of description and not of limitation. There is no intention in the use of such terms and expressions of excluding equivalents of the features shown and described. It is recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a carpet sweeper having a casing and a brush extending therethrough having a hub and oor wheels engaging said hub, the combination of an independent mounting for each floor wheel comprising a yoke having a bight and an arm extending each side of each wheel and having a wheel axle extending between said arms, a leaf spring of a strength to resist torsional movenient in operation of the carpet sweeper for urging said wheel against said hub and for supporting said sweeper resiliently on said wheel and having one end rigidly fastened to the bight of said yoke and extending substantially tangentially of the wheel and with its transverse flat dimension parallel to said wheel axle, and means rigidly mounted on said casing rigidly connected to and holding the other end of said spring with its transverse flat dimension parallel to said brush whereby parallelism between said brush and said wheel axle is maintained, and a pair of equalizer arms each pivotally secured between its ends to said casing and having one end pivotally connected to said yoke and the other pivotally connected to said brush to maintain alignment between wheel axles and the brush, whereby downward pressure on said casing to move it toward the floor will create more extensive downward movement of said brush and whereby said wheels will be equalized in their vertical movements, two of the pivotal connections of each lever permitting relative movement longitudinally between the lever and the part to which it is connected to permit conact between the wheels and the brush hub at al1 times.

2. In a carpet sweeper having a casing and a brush extending therethrough having a hub and floor wheels engaging said hub, the combination of an independent mounting for each floor wheel comprising a yoke having a bight and an arm extending each side of each wheel and having a wheel axle extending between said arms, a leaf spring of a strength to resist torsional movement in operation of the carpet sweeper for urging said wheel against said hub and for supporting said sweeper resiliently on said wheel and having one end rigidly fastened to the bight of said yoke and extending substantially tangentially of the wheel and with its transverse at dimension parallel to said Wheel axle, and means rigidly mounted on said casing rigidly connected to and holding the other end of said spring with its transverse flat dimension parallel to said brush whereby parallelism between said brush and said wheel axle is maintained.

3. In a carpet sweeper having a casing and a brush extending therethrough having a hub and floor wheels engaging said hub, the combination of an independent mounting for each floor wheel comprising a yoke having a bight and an arm extending each side of said wheel and having a wheel axle extending between said arms, and means for resiliently urging said wheels against said hub and for resiliently supporting said sweeper on said wheels and for maintaining parallelism between said wheel axles and said brush comprising a short leaf spring of a strength to resist torsional movement in operation of the carpet sweeper having one end rigidly fastened to the bight of said yoke and extending substantially tangentially of the wheel and with its transverse at dimension parallel to said wheel axle, and means rigidly mounted on said casing rigidly connected to and holding the other end of said spring with its transverse flat dimension parallel to said brush, whereby torsional resiliency of said spring is substantially eliminated while permitting transverse bending thereof.

FRED W. PULLEN. 

